Dr. Pam Castiñeiras

Hi and welcome! My name is Pam Castiñeiras, PsyD, BCB (she/her) and I am a clinical psychologist licensed in New York State.  I am Board Certified in Biofeedback which means I underwent extensive training in learning how the body (physiology) and the mind (psychology) work together to impact the health and wellness of an individual.  Through this training I learned that my passion lies in helping patients learn about their bodies and minds in new ways to help nurture healing, especially in the case of chronic health diagnoses and anxiety disorders. 

 

I love to help patients learn and provide information about health conditions and neuroscience in an easy, light-hearted way.  My patients frequently tell me that my use of metaphor and down-to-Earth language helps them digest these often complex topics in a way that helps normalize and validate their experiences.  I make it a habit to read new research and share what I learn with patients.

 

My therapeutic orientation is a “third wave cognitive behavioral therapy” called “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” or ACT (pronounced like the word “act”).  This orientation informs our work together and is a very active form of therapy.  The following are some things to keep in mind about this kind of work:

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• You and I will work together as a team to help you build the version of life you want to live.

• A big part of our work together will involve learning skills to reduce the negative impact of your internal experiences (thoughts, feelings, body sensations, memories, urges, etc.) by gaining some distance from them.  These skills are called “unhooking skills” and they help take away some of the power of your thoughts and feelings so they can’t boss you around or run your life.The aim is to be curious about your thoughts and feelings and to change your relationship to them.

• Therapy also includes clarifying your values, so during our first few sessions I will be asking you a lot of questions about what matters to you in life, what you want to stand up for, what strengths and qualities you want to develop, how you want to interact with yourself and others, and what you want to be proud of in your life.These values will help us create an action plan of committed steps towards these things that matter to you.

• I want you to leave sessions with an action plan and skills to practice between appointments.This is an important part of treatment.

• I will push you out of your comfort zone and encourage you to try new things! You are always allowed to tell me “no” and we will explore other options.You are the expert on your life and I am the expert on my techniques so we need to work together as a team to find what works.